Tuesday, July 26, 2011

More Hooved Animals on the Road...and a Quick Quiz Question

It's the last day on the road for us...we'll be home sometime this afternoon. We had our big push across the Nevada desert along another very, very lonely highway, this time on 375 through Rachel. That's the Extraterrestrial Highway to some. It's been one of the finest trips of my life.

After the long drive, we were only 15 minutes from our destination last night, feeling a bit desperate for, um, facilities, but then we passed a herd of wild horses, and had to stop. They were a beautiful sight.

So, here is today's Quick Quiz Question:

Who was here first in the American West and Central Nevada?
1) Wild horses
2) Ranchers
3) Miners
4) Spanish Explorers
5) Native Americans

Hint: The answer is complicated, as is the issue. And, there is some geology involved.

Well, wild pre-horses (Eohippus - sp? et al) were here, then native Americans, then the Spanish and their horses which became the first wild horses of Recent times, then ranchers & miners NNITO, with many current wild horses now descended from escapee ranch horses with some Spanish-horse wild blood, modified and bred somewhat by native Americans post-Spaniards (I think).

About Me

I am a teacher of geology at Modesto Junior College and former president of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers, Far Western Section. I have led field trips all over the western United States, and a few excursions overseas, but my homebase is the Sierra Nevada, the Great Valley, and the Coast Ranges of California.